In particular, bottlenose dolphins and sea turtles are dying in record numbers, and the evidence is stronger than ever that their demise is connected to the spill, according to Doug Inkley, senior scientist for the National Wildlife Federation, which issued the report. (See "Gulf Oil Spill: One Year Later.")

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, 2010, killing 11 people and spewing more than 200 million gallons (750 million liters) of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Since then, various government agencies and nonprofits, including the National Wildlife Federation, have been studying the region's wildlife to track the impacts of the oil.

A pod of bottlenose dolphins swim in the oily Chandeleur Sound, Louisiana, in 2010.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ALEX BRANDON, AP

The report, a compilation of published science since the spill, reveals that "the Gulf oil spill is far from over," Inkley said.

"The oil is not gone: There is oil on the bottom of the Gulf, oil is washing up on the beaches, and oil is still on the marshes," he said.

However, BP, which operated the now-defunct oil well, claims that the report "is a piece of political advocacy—not science.

"For example, the report misrepresents the U.S. government's investigation into dolphin deaths; as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's own Web site states, that inquiry is ongoing," BP said in a statement provided to National Geographic.

"The report also conveniently overlooks information available from other independent scientific reports showing that the Gulf is undergoing a strong recovery. Just this week, a study published by Auburn University researchers found no evidence that the spill impacted young red snapper populations on reefs off the Alabama coast."

Hit Hard

The report examined 14 species that live in the Gulf. Those include:

—More than 900 bottlenose dolphins have been found dead or stranded in the oil spill area since April 2010. If you stretched the corpses lengthwise, that's 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) of dead dolphins, Inkley said. Scientists know that is more than in previous years because they've been recording deaths and strandings in the Gulf for a decade.

A top predator like the dolphin falling ill is a sign that species further down the food chain are also having trouble, Inkley said.

"When you have sick dolphins, it tells you there's a problem here and it needs to be investigated."

—There are five species of sea turtle that live in the Gulf, and all of them are listed as threatened or endangered by the Endangered Species Act. About 500 dead sea turtles have been found in the spill region every year since 2011—"a dramatic increase over normal rates," according to the NWF. What's unknown is how many turtles died at sea and were never recovered by scientists.

—An oil chemical from the spill has been shown to cause irregular heartbeats in the embryos of bluefin and yellowfin tuna. That's a critical stage of development for the fish, so there's a lot of concern that the damage could cause heart attacks or deaths, Inkley said. (Related: "Odd Animal Deaths, Deformities Linked to Gulf Oil Spill?")

—Loons, birds that winter on the Louisiana coast, are carrying increasing concentrations of toxic oil compounds in their blood.

—Sperm whales that swam near the BP well have higher levels of DNA-damaging metals in their bodies than in the past. The metals in their bodies, such as chromium and nickel, are the same ones that were present in the well.

Long Way to Go

Overall, "we have a long way to go in understanding the full impact," Inkley said.

To that end, NWF and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will continue monitoring wildlife in the oiled region—the latter is required to do so by the Oil Pollution Act.

Restoring the oiled ecosystems is a goal, Inkley said, but he added oil is tough to remove, especially in marshes and in the deep ocean. That's why NWF is emphasizing prevention—in particular, adopting alternative energy resources that are not carbon-based and won't cause oil spills.

"I'm still haunted by the 'walking dead' brown pelicans covered head to toe in the oil," added Inkley.

Thanks for the report; a rarity in its content and implied acceptance of our responsibility.

There are aspects related to the use of the man-made chemicals that the Obama administration authorized as dispersants that can be argued t have made the environmental mayhem much larger than what it would have been. This was done for profit of the chemical companies in bed with the oil companies whose incompetence reminds us that we need a government on the side of individuals (humans and non-voting creatures that depend on our consciousness to live on Earth) and not reliant on for-profit interests for their data or excuse for lack thereof and consequent barbarism.

Our collective barbarism empowers the profit of corporations and the debasement of who we are in who represents us, our government.

Okay so let's get some scientists over there to analyse the data they collected from the migrating dolphins that come from the gulf and go up the eastern coast (and whales and manatees) that have mysteriously died en masse since 2010 off the coasts of FL GA SC NC VA so that they can finally make the connection with those as well. It's amazing that these people missed that somehow when reports of these animals dieing like crazy were coming over the news.

These creatures don't stay in one place, the migrate every year, they use the gulf stream every year and the stream goes out from the gulf up the eastern side of the US. I cannot believe they can't put 2 + 2 together.

The National Wildlife Federation has been doing a wonderful job for our sake and the sake of the natural world around us....The horrible suffering caused by the spill of oil in the Gulf of Mexico would be made even more tragic if it doesn't end up drastically changing our relationship with fossil fuels (ending it)...If it's just more information to add to what was learned from the Valdez in Alaska....all we'll have is documentation of how it all went horribly wrong and how tragically we squandered the resources, full of beauty and life, of our land for want of the will to live in a good way...

Let's see the Asians like to catch sharks, cut off only the fins. For a soup considered a delicacy. The shark is not so fortunate. Hope nobody finds our ears tasty. The Oil Companies did not get Rich handing out money. Ironically oil makes them wealthy. Mother Nature sick when their is a mishap on land or water. We drive around depositing carbon in the air. And can not do with out our automobiles. Yes we may be ruining the Oceans with trash, oil, over fishing, shark fin soup no predators. But hey you look sort of high class at your Wedding in Asia. Still can drive around till the air quality starts to resemble China or India. Maybe like a Black Hole our ignorance is spinning us toward our demise. So how do we get smart? Do look toward me for an answer. Rocket Scientist not on board.

Conspicuous in its absence from this article is any mention of the real culprit in this disaster, the chemical oil dispersant COREXIT. The writer only dared to venture close to the issue with the cryptically worded: "An oil chemical from the spill has been shown to cause irregular heartbeats in the embryos of bluefin and yellowfin tuna..." The toxicity of COREXIT is magnitudes worse than the oil alone.

This is nauseatingly sad. What is it going to take to get people to CARE? Those who don't are either ignorant, greedy, psychopathic or have never experienced profound loss. Maybe a combination of those. Those who care will never forget; those who don't care seem to be doing all in their power to make sure we do forget.

According to researchers ( http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1755-263X.2011.00168.x/abstract ) for every stranding found on the coastline along the Gulf of Mexico, 50 dolphins have simply fallen to the sea floor. This equates to 900 dolphins * 50 == 45,000 dead dolphins. And thousands more who are currently seriously ill and dying from lung cancer and anemia from the carcinogenic elements within oil. In what world is it okay to kill 45,000 dolphins for humans?

This past January, New Jersey Congressman Rush D. Holt Jr. stated at a Congressional Hearing on Capitol Hill that the U.S. Department of Energy has stated that wind turbines along our coasts would produce much more energy than the United States even uses. He called our coasts "the Saudi Arabia of wind".

Only about 3% of the oil we use is for products -- and we could easily get that oil from land-based extraction where spills can be easily contained and cleaned up.. All other energy needs could be, and should be, converted to using pure electric produced by wind and solar. By far, oil used in this country is for transportation and that is totally unnecessary. My prius hybrid gets 55 to 60 mpg on average and in a heartbeat i'd go pure electric if our condo association provided exterior outlets for us.

Decades following Exxon Valdez and STILL you did an inch in the sand and there is oil and STILL the marine life and wild life have not come back. *ALL* offshore drilling needs to end; it is not our right to destroy the habitat intelligent species, such as dolphins, require in order to survive, and it is CERTAINLY not to our right to sicken and kill them with oil.

For as long as mankind's greed rules and responsibility to care for mother earth is less important we will continue to experience environmental problems. We can not trust individuals/corporations to do the right thing and our only course is the establishment of stricter laws by the governments. But how do you monitor individuals and corporations actions? The Exxon Valdez oil spill was caused by both individual and corporate negligence.

Thousands of lawsuits are still pending much of it having to do with the Corexit chemical dispersant that was used to basically HIDE the oil and sink it to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. Poisoning the home of wildlife for generations including we humans is secondary to the profit motive which capitalism breeds. Destruction is the Destination.

At the time of the oil spill and even more now I feel that the only thing worse than the disaster itself was the use of dispersants. They were used to hide the true scope of the spill, but they did nothing to remove the oil from the ocean.

The Oil Companies will have to find a solution to avoid oil spills in the future. In addition they will also have to ensure that in case there is an oil spill, immediate action be taken to ensure that marine life is not endangered due to the oil spill. Otherwise humanity will be the end sufferer on the long run. Hence Oil Companies be ware !

If the sea life and wildlife has been affected, just imagine the liability if BP admitted that the human health of VOO, cleanup workers and coastal residents have been affected. Nothing like being the guinea pig for first-time subsea dispersant use. Both corexits have ONLY BEEN tested on rats. The in situ burning was unacceptable. The ten-year human health program by NIH is only monitoring those affected and the latest study report from Dale Sandler was discouraging to say the least. Maybe BP propaganda working with the EPA and Homeland Security is just untouchable when it comes to the safety and well being of a U.S. citizen. By the people, FOR THE PEOPLE.

Has BP issued a press release yet challenging these findings? If not, I'm sure they will within hours. Check their propaganda web site, stateofthegulf.com. It is delay, deny and defend with these Bad People and their Broken Promises.

@Mark Meyer According to the Department of Energy, wind turbines along our coasts would produce far more electricity than the United States even uses. The coasts are considered "the Saudi Arabia of wind". Only about 3% of the oil we use is for products-- and we could easily get that oil from land-based extraction where spills can be easily cleaned up. *ALL* offshore drilling needs to end; 2.2 million gallons of oil are spilled into the Gulf of Mexico every year by tens of thousands of offshore rigs: it is not our right to destroy the habitat intelligent species like dolphins require to live, and it is CERTAINLY not to our right to sicken and kill them with oil.

@Mark Meyer - not so much liberal insanity as it is human insanity for all the technology to be wasted on more garbage rigging techniques than to simply let go of oil for a purely clean alternative that would ultimately save the earth such as what the US NAVY is doing... kudos to the men and women for using saltwater as a fuel alternative instead of actually toxic chemicals for the fueling of subs, aircraft, and ships. Of course military technology will take its time be to revealed and utilized for the rest of the nation and world but like computers and safety gear, other alternatives NEED to be recognized for the safety of our flora and fauna via land, sea, or the skies.

@Mark Meyer Why don't you stop the cowardly inability to speak truth to power? And if you want to talk about insanity, go look in the mirror and babble on because only an insane person would put up with this kind of blatant destruction of the world we have to live in.

Wow @Gerard Van der Leun! All you did there was make yourself look like a jerk about what@Tom Young was saying, and what most environmentalists or environmentally aware are thinking. You can decrease your petroleum usage by not buying plastics which I avoid purchasing, Gerard. I use my bike or walk far more than my car decreasing my dependence on the gas pump, Gerard. I grow my own food or purchase my food from the farmers market, therefore decreasing my dependence, Gerard. I live in a cottage squatted in the sand on the Gulf, Gerard. Decreasing your dependency on oil, that's the way to really Nat Geo, Gerard. It's not that hard to be aware, proactive, and not a jerk, Gerard.

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